| Contrasts on the Training Field |
An analysis of Canada and China in their training regimens
This article originally appeared in the January-February 2003 issue of Soccer Journal.
Watching the preparation
Stuart Barbour, Head Coach, South Nepean United, Nepean, Ontario, observed both the Chinese and Canadian Women’s National Teams preparing for an exhibition game and subsequent tournament. He points out that while this article deals with sessions for the field players, the keepers had their own specialized training at the same time. Neil Turnbull coached the Canadians and Yuanan Na coached China.
Last July, the women’s national teams from Canada and China played a pair of exhibition games. Canada was preparing for the CONCACAF qualifiers while China was preparing for the Goodwill Games. The Chinese women prevailed in both exhibition games, winning 2-1 in Ottawa on July 19 and 4-0 in Montreal on July 21.
CANADA’S FIRST SESSION (2 Hours)
The focus was clearly on defending. The coaches put a lot of emphasis on correct defending positions and on keeping good defensive shape.
1. 4 v. 2
• Pairs of players in same colors
• Play hard 2 minutes, stop, stretch, and switch defenders
• Every pair defends twice
Coaching Points:
• Stay low with good body position
• Work as a pair
• Close down when the ball is in flight
• Offense: play with head up and speed
• “If you’re complacent here and you’ll be complacent in the game!”
2. 3 v. 3 with server and target
• Players mark 1 v. 1, 3 minutes each way
Coaching Points:
• Intercept if you can
• Keep player on correct hip, force them one way
• Do not let them turn (contain)
• Get in low and balanced on their hip
• See the ball
• Stay on your feet
3. Defending the top of the box 4 v. 4
• Attackers pass the ball around
• Defenders keep good body position but cannot tackle, try to keep attackers back to the net
• Defenders play full out
Coaching Points:
• Individual: same as drills above
Team:
• Know when to offer coverage
• Know when to release a player to “double up”
• Importance of communication
4. Full field walk through
• Coach worked on defensive team shape with the starting 11 in the attacking third of the field. Emphasis was placed on the defensive responsibilities of the forwards and the positions of the midfielders when the ball was moved around the back. This was repeated in the midfield third of the field.
CANADA’S SECOND SESSION (1-1/2 hours)
The focus was clearly on attacking. The coaches put a lot of emphasis on changing the pace of the attack, finding opportunities to shoot early and on the quality of the final pass.
1. 6 v. 2
• 4 pairs of players in same color
• Each pair defends for 1 1/2 minutes. Stop and stretch between pairs of defenders
• Play one touch when we can
2. 6 v. 3
Coaching Points:
:
• Head up
• Good body shape, let ball come across your body to open up
• Importance of set up pass
• Can we play one touch?
3. Finishing from top of box
• 6 v. 3 with 3 defenders restricted to penalty area
• Second net placed 18 yards past center
• Attack moves ball quickly looking for shots from outside the box
• Defenders in box put 75% pressure on attackers shot
• Counter-attacks are on. Team which losses possession must have 3 defenders in their box to create
6 v. 3 in midfield
3b. Finishing inside the box
• Same setup as above
• Can pass into box past the defenders
• 1st level attackers allowed a free one-time shot with defenders chasing them down
• 2nd level defenders chase full out and attackers are allowed multiple touches
4. Finishing technique and duels
• A lively session that focused on individual skills and required mental and physical toughness in the 1 v. 1 duel.
• 1st level player receives ball from opposite corners, shoots from outside 18
• 2nd level player comes out hard turn’s ball back and shoots.
• Keeper receives 2 shots in a row one from each side. Then switch to opposite end
• Two third level players come out from the same line. 1st player tries to turn ball and get a shot on the net. Players receive the ball outside the penalty area.
CHINA’S FIRST SESSION (1-1/2 Hours)
Warmup
The team had a free 5-10 minute light jog with individual stretching, a lot of which was ballistic in nature. This was followed by a large game of tag in the center circle which started off at a walking pace and finished with the players sprinting to catch or elude the tagger. The players then spent another 5-10 minutes with a partner and a ball jogging around the field working on individual skills and just knocking the ball about working on both short and long balls.
Once this extended warmup session was over the practice took on another look, the focus became attacking down the wings and everything from here on was done with pace and at “game speed.” The transition from warm up to game speed was instant; the players turned it on right away.
I. Switching and wing play
• CM plays ball to LM
• LM plays ball (l or 2 touches) into S
• S plays back to CM who takes 2 touches and switches to RM
• Both strikers are marked on attack
• After first attack coach plays a 2nd cross for same attackers and defenders
To appreciate the technique quality of China’s players consider the following. This “drill” went on for 30 minutes. In that time there were only two switches which were overplayed and never did the wide player have to come back for a ball. Most balls were played first time and the wingers never took more than two touches to get their cross in. Every cross from the left was played with left foot and every cross from the right was played with the right foot. As the session moved along, the coach started to vary his service from the end line sometimes playing the ball to the far post midfielder, other times cutting it back to the center midfielder for a shot.
2. Scrimmage 8 v. 8 with keepers
• 2 full sized goals
• 2nd net was 18 yards beyond center to create two penalty areas
What was really interesting to note during the game was the extent to which China’s left back, Jingxia Wang, got forward and penetrated the Canadian flanks. This player was fit and had speed to burn; she was always looking to get forward on a direct overlap or show up behind the Canadian mid-field on the weak side for a switched ball. She put on a clinic on how to get forward without getting caught out at the back. She would have been my pick for “player of the match.”
One of the major differences between the training sessions was that everything China did used the entire width of the field while Canada restricted all their play to the width of the penalty area. The tone of the training sessions was also different. Despite not being able to understand Chinese, there was an appreciable difference between the overall tone of the sessions set by the players and the coaches. The Canadian women can only get together on occasion so the coaches have to pour as much coaching into their sessions as possible.
The Chinese team are more like “pros,” they train together a lot so the coaches are able to keep their coaching to a minimum each session and can also allow for the odd game of tag. Watching the game, you could also tell the Chinese were working on advanced tactics and techniques. They even had a cheeky little set play for an indirect free kick where the ball was purposely clipped waist high into the Canadian wall where two Chinese players spun in to shoot the planned rebound. They came close, but the expression on their faces gave away that it was a set play.
Conclusion
In North America, the opportunity to observe top quality training sessions is very rare. Coaches should really try to take advantage of these opportunities when they are presented in your back yard. It is amazing what one can pick up. What a great motivator to say to your team: tonight’s training session will be exactly what the Canadian Women’s National Team did.
Just a thought: There were only two other coaches who took the time to observe these sessions in Ottawa, one was Steve Johnson coach of the University of Ottawa Women’s team, the 1996 CIAU National Champions, and the other was Andy Nera, coach of Nepean United, the 1997 National Club Champions. Is there a pattern here?
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